Where to start;
It has been a long an emotional week for the Avery household. It started on Monday, the tragic accident in
Bonney Lake that claimed three young lives struck close to home as Myriam knew
the young family. It was an emotional
low for the family, making everyone realize how precious and fragile life and
family really are. Luckily it was offset
by some of the firsts for Chelsea who makes us laugh on a daily basis. We definitely needed her this week.
First day of School.
OK technically it was her third day. On the Thursday 4/9 Chelsea and Myriam went
to school to have lunch with her class.
Everything went well and after lunch Chelsea was ready to stay but it
was time to go. The next day Chelsea
came again for lunch and this time stayed for the reminder of the day; about 3 ½
hours. Sophie and her best friend came
and had lunch with Chelsea as much to do something different at lunch as it was
to reassure Chelsea that someone was there that she knew.
Monday was different.
It was a full day of school no special treatment. Well actually that is not entirely true. Chelsea has a para-educator for half the day,
starting in the morning, and staying with her until lunch time. Darlene is wonderful and is there to help Chelsea in her first weeks of school. She is helping bridge the gap for Chelsea and
we are grateful to have her for four weeks.
Chelsea is learning new words every day and we are impressed
with how much she absorbs. In fact we
are now pretty sure she understands everything we are saying and is holding out
on us. Her favorite word is “No” as in
Chelsea it is time to get a shower “no” time to brush your teeth, “no”, time to
get up and get ready for school “no”. Her facial expressions during these
conversations are what make them priceless.
She never ceases to make us smile and laugh.
The school has been amazing.
They have been waiting for Chelsea for most of the school year. They found the para-educator who speaks Chinese
and purchased Rosetta Stone software for her computer to help her learn English
and when you arrive at Bonne Lake Elementary everything is in English and Chinese. The office, classrooms, library, everything
is dual language. They have really
outdone themselves, we are so grateful for the warm embrace they have given
Chelsea.
The Boss arrives:
On Wednesday Michael had to repair one of the toilets. He turned off the water and disassembled the
unit which caught the interest of his youngest child. She followed him to the garage where Michael
assembled the new unit under her supervision.
When Michael returned to the bathroom it was here that Chelsea decided
she needed to use the facilities.
Michael told her “you cannot use it here, you have to go upstairs, and
this one is not working.” This received a
sharp and clear “NO”, and a firm point to the disassembled toilet. Michael
resumed his work under the watchful eye of his new foreman. Sophie was not at the house she was with her
best friend and that did not set well with her.
She wanted to be with her sister and new friends. When the doorbell rang Chelsea was sure it
was her sister and left her post over Michael’s shoulder supervising the work
being done. When Sophie was not at the
door (I could have told her that Sophie does not ring the doorbell when she gets
home but I was too busy turning wrenches.)
Myriam was surprised to see her coming out of the bathroom headed
for the front door and asked what she was up to. Michael informed anyone who would listen that
she needed to use the bathroom upstairs because this one is not working. With the knowledge that Sophie was not at the
door and having no desire to go upstairs Chelsea quickly returned to the
bathroom, yelled “NO” then closed and locked herself inside the dismantled
bathroom with Michael. At this point she
turned and said “Daddy Hurry!”
The event that distracted the foreman gave the general laborer
just enough time to finish the job. And
typical of Sr. Management no thank you was offered, just a firm finger pointing
the way to the exit. The door was closed
and locked.
Other notable firsts:
·
She has traded her spider monkey routine when
encounter the dogs to one similar to a lion tamer, smacking the dogs on the
rear when they fail to move out of her way fast enough.
·
She has begun eating grapes with the skins. Seriously try and peel your next grape and
discard the skin. You can only use your fingers and teeth. I guarantee my daughter will put you to
shame. So now she eats the entire grape -thank goodness.
·
She is now addicted to chips and salsa just like
Sophie and Myriam.
·
She received her first knee scrape. It did not require a band aide but she got
her first one anyway
·
She is now addicted to band- aides. She likes to stick them on her knees.
·
She then walks with one leg stiff as if she has
an injury. If you watch she will switch
legs from time to time.
·
Her first park soccer game with friends and
siblings; she may be a keeper. Actually she is a keeper but she may also be a
goalie. She likes to throw herself on
top of the ball even if people are kicking at it. Now we just need to prevent her from doing it
at the 50 yard line.
While we were in China we noticed Chelsea can sleep 10, 12,
14 hours a day. We assumed it was
because everything was so new to her.
When we got home she continued to sleep long hours. We discounted it as getting use to the new
time zone. OK we have been back for a
couple of weeks now and sleeping 14 hours just will not due.
We are learning a lot
with her like we need to time things better. We need to allow 10 minutes to
brush teeth. If we rush her we get
locked out of the bathroom. She is hard to get into the shower; it usually
includes some bribery and at least one search of the house after she has “agreed”
to take a shower. She is small and
hiding places are plentiful. She is not a morning person. Each “good morning
sweetheart it’s time to get up and get ready for school is promptly met with a
groan and a “NO!”
So the restroom humor continues this week. Myriam thinks we need to call them Chelsea
Chuckles and I agree. So here goes the first one.
 |
| CHELSEA CHUCKLES |
Chelsea does not miss a beat, Michael routinely stated while
in China that she never blinks. She takes
everything in; as you read this imagine the scene in your head.
Chelsea tells her teacher that she needs to use the
bathroom. This is a regular event as
Chelsea has the bladder the size of a pea.
Chelsea gets the appropriate hall pass and proceeds to the restroom
where she selects a stall. While in the stall she looks down and recognizes a
pair of shoes in the adjacent stall. It is the shoes of her friend. Ever so
eager, Chelsea quickly crawls under the divider wall pops her head up and says “HI”!!
Not sure what you would have done but if I am in a stall and
someone pops their head up from below and shouts HI! It is probably a good thing I am where I am
at the moment; let’s just say it is an appropriate spot for what would happen! We are going to have to work on personal
space, and apparently physical barriers.
 |
| Her first Sounder FC cap and t-shirt complements of the Dynacraft quality Dept. |
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